prepared to use the financial weapon. that runs contrary to every multilateralist instinct of the obama white house. they paid a price for it. israel paid a price for it, too. >> eric: why is it seemingly one-sided? i remember when you voted against the human rights council. nine votes against it. us. canada, czech republic, israel, marshall islands, macronesia, palau and nairu. they seem to be the steadfastest allies at the u.n., palau and nairu. >> guest: this demonstrates the permanent anti-israel, anti-american majority in the u.n. it will be broken only by strong measures by the united states. the irony is for those who are strong supporters of the united nations, this resolution dramatically undercuts the u.n. credibilit credibility. weakens the u.n. profoundly. we will see the further ramifications to that in congress as well. members who will now seek to cut off or limit u.s. con u.s. contributions in response. >> eric: if that happen what is is the impact? >> it might demonstrate to some people they have to take the votes at the u.n. more seriously. we are in a deficit situatio

a president obama. but now they're at the president obama white house almost every week meeting with president obama. and i unde t a i underst what ab the f all this face time with president. does t i we're tol elizabe mas sea committ them on board with his agenda, particularly for his side of the negotiations with congressional republicans over the bush tax cuts and the stimulus and the deficit. this president seems to have a thick skin if letting bygones be bygones does not come naturally to him as a man, he is doing a convincing job as a president. from the friendly response from the business leaders after these meetings, even from the ones who supported mitt romney. it does not seem like the president is calling these business leaders to the white house to read them the riot act. it does not seem like he is trying to exact political revenge. it seal like he is trying to get them on board with his agenda, particularly for his side of the negotiations with congressional republicans over the bush tax cuts and the stimulus and the deficit. this president seems to have a thick skin if

this that you know. the obama white house. tried to veto this this last year france as what do you think the likelihood of palestine going forward with actually charging israel now that they have the potential to join the international criminal court do you think that the u.s. is going to try to block this i mean the u.s. and israel such tight allies here obviously the u.s. u.s. was against against as a vote from the beginning i mean what do you think's going to happen once they do move forward with these. but actually we already did it after operation cast lead i advise president obama. to accept the jurisdiction of the international criminal court under article twelve paragraphs wary of the world statute which he did do and then palestine filed a complaint with the i.c.c. great operation cast lead now what happened in may a case that was then we i.c.c. prosecutor at the time marino compo said he would open an investigation into two points one did palestine hands the capacity to accept the jurisdiction of the i.c.c. two did israel commit war crimes and crimes against humanity in o

passing the senate that is supposed to be a batian of reason. you worked in the obama white house, does it shock you when lindsey graham stands up and votes against this. he's somewhat a respected member of the senate. >> nothing shocks me any more. the republican party has been moving away from disability for some time. when you look at other things that the congress has focused on medicaid, healthcare, the affordable care act, even looking at what's going on with the fiscal cliff right? are we going to balance our budget by lessoning lessening the support to those with disability or focus on those at the top 1%. this trend is ongoing and i hope it doesn't continue. the bipartisan tradition around disability is longstanding, and i think it's mourn. it's one of those few issues that traditionally both republicans and democrats can agree on, and i hope we can get back to that point. a lot of work need to be done in the republican party for us to get there. >> eliot: your point is so well taken. there should be no disagreement about extending rights to those with disabilities. this

, the middle class tax cuts are permanent. and the response to charles would be that the obama white house believes it will help the economy. >> they're completely wrong. that is the problem. >> bret: next up, the friday lightning round. [ "odd couple" theme plays ] humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else mes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >> bret: every week, viewers vote for your choice online in the lightning round poll. and this week, cabinet reshuffle won with 36% of the vote. back with the panel. okay, bill. susan rice hasn't been dominated for everything but we think she might be nominated for secretary of state. although the white house is doing head counting after not a great week on capitol hill. >> it was striking. i spoke with the republican senators privately before they were seeking susan rice and i think they wo

romney heads to the white house. president obama is hosting his campaign rival at a private lunch. no reporters will be allowed in. it is the seventh time the two men have met face-to-face. it's going to be the first time since the election. there are no details on the meeting. in his victory speech, president obama said he hoped to speak with romney about how to move the country forward. >>> despite another rough day of meetings with republican senators, u.n. ambassador susan rice received a new vote of confidence. this time from the president and secretary of state hillary clinton. the president called rice extraordinary during a cabinet meeting she attended. clinton led a round of applause for rice who is considered to be a front-runner to be nominated as clinton's successor. a point later touched on during a news conference. >> susan rice has done a great job as our ambassador to the united nations and, of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president. i'm very happy he has the opportunity with a second term to make a decision. >> but on capitol hill, tenness

calling an irritant. president obama leaves the white house this morning to head to a toy factory in pennsylvania. he'll tell americans the fiscal cliff will cause holiday shopping to plummet. >> let's give a christmas present to the american people. >> reporter: but the mood here on capitol hill is anything but festive. both sides say the tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in at year end are unacceptable, they just don't believe each other. >> members of his own party seem quite comfortable of sending the economy over the fiscal cliff. >> reporter: the president sent timothy geithner to the hill with had $4 trillion plan. it includes 1.6 trillion in new taxes on upper income americans. 400 billion in cuts to medicare and other entitlement programs. and $50 billion in new spending on infrastructure and unemployment benefits. the biggest stumbling block remain. the new taxes on the wealthiest americans. while some republicans here in congress are hinting they might be open to the idea the majority seemed opposed. >> raising rates on the so-called rich is the holy grail of liberal

michelle obama has unveiled this year's holiday decorations at the white house, which featured 54 christmas trees and a 300-pound gingerbread white house, along with a statue of first dog bo. realistic looking, too. pretty nice. >>> all right. over to wall street where markets saw a boost. the dow opens today at 12,985 after rising 106 points yesterday. the s&p added ten. the nasdaq gained 23. >>> in tokyo, the nikkei was up 92 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 213. >>> so, more data is expected today on the holiday shopping season. chain stores will release november retail sales figures today. meanwhile, a new survey shows that most adults would postpone holiday shopping until january if it could save money. >>> and a different survey found that holiday parties are making a comeback with 83% of companies hosting an event this season. >>> researchers have tested the foam in 100 couches and 40% contain banned toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. >>> a recall has been ordered of a trampoline for safety reasons. it involves sports power parkside model trampolines so

white house is that obama is pretty dug in -- i want, i will break those republicans. maybe it is just a bargaining position, maybe he is making it, but the feeling is that he really does want to bust the other side. >> what happened in the debt ceiling fight is that they thought they could just do this in work is so they put it out in public. >> but he wants to raise the debt ceiling. >> that is part of the leverage that republicans have -- >> the best leverage if they have. >> obama thinks he has all the cards, he thinks he is napoleon, or perhaps lbj after his landslide. obama won this election by three points. 95% of republicans in the house won by a larger margin. he has a mandate, they have a mandate, and they have offered to raise revenues, which is to raise taxes. what obama is after is one mark indicates -- he wants to make a political point that republicans are the party of the millionaires. if you look at it as it will attempt to fix our issues, if you do it the taxes he wants, racing on the top 2%, it brings in 8 cents on the dollar, and what it means is that the defic

this dangerous practice before we all die from fracking related food poisoning. president obama just won reelection to the white house with a margin of about fifty one percent of the popular vote about the same number he won by in two thousand and eight the last president to win both election and reelection by fifty one percent or greater was dwight d. eisenhower in the elections in one thousand nine hundred two in one hundred fifty six so apparently both obama and eisenhower were doing something right that a clear majority the american people liked but what could that be we're all pretty familiar with the platform on which obama won reelection but what about eisenhower well a simple read of the republican party's one nine hundred fifty six platform gives you all the answers you need they started out by noting that the republican party of nine hundred fifty six was in support of all the people not just the millionaires and the corporations they wrote our government was created. by the people for all the people animals serve no less a purpose we are proud of and shall continue our far

glass half full. i'm an optimist. >> brown: hopeful signs emanated from the white house and the capitol today, about getting a deal before the new year brings automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. president obama offered his optimism at an event with middle-class americans who'd be hit by any tax increase. >> i'm glad to see-- if you've been reading the papers lately-- - that more and more republicans in congress seem to be agreeing with this idea that we should have a balanced approach. so if both parties agree we should not raise taxes on middle class families, let's begin our work with where we agree. >> brown: one such lawmaker is republican house member tom cole of oklahoma. the journal "politico" reported he's urging colleagues to extend middle class tax cuts but allow tax rates for top earners to rise for now. that's what the president wants, but republican leaders have called for raising revenues by closing loopholes and capping deductions. and this morning, house speaker john boehner said he'd reinforced that position to congressman cole. >> you're not going to grow th

opened doors and unveiled the white house christmas decorations. first lady michelle obama welcomed military kids and their families and they got to explore the white house and all of the holiday. an out of scale version of the dog decorated in the presidential mansion. mrs. obama thanked them for their service. >> we think you are pretty amazing individuals. i know you may not feel that way but you are special.  and we are just so happy to have you here. we are grateful for your sacrifice and your service. and that is really why we wanted to invite all of you here today to say thank you. >> talking to all of those kids. mrs. obama took the kids away for a special treat where they got to do crafts and decorate the white house cookies. >>> thousands are gathering in new york city to see the famous christmas tree light up. this year's tree is very special. the 50-year-old 80 foot tall spruce came from new jersey after surviving hurricane sandy. tonight marks the tree lighting. the special features tony bennett, c logreen and airs tonight at 8 p.m. >>> at 11:00 a downtown divided. on

rivals. president obama, opening the white house doors today, to the man who had once hoped to move in there as president himself. take a look. there they were, standing in the oval office, the president and governor mitt romney. they would spend more than an hour at a private lunch and everyone was wondering if somehow, they would agree to work together on america's fiscal crisis. our jonathan karl has been on the phone today to find out what happened. >> reporter: it wasn't the way mitt romney wanted to arrive at the white house. over the gaze of the oval office portrait of abraham lincoln, known for his team of rivals, romney and obama met alone for an hour. by all accounts, much more cordial than their last encounter. >> no, i had a question, and the question was -- >> you want me to answer a question. >> reporter: on the menu, white turkey chili and southwestern grilled chicken salad. and some fence mending. but down the street, on capitol hill, was where the real fireworks were. partisan sniping and a clear sign that talks on averting the so-called fiscal cliff and preventing

of president obama's leadership. >> brown: white house officials said the president will send treasury secretary timothy geithner and legislative chief rob nabors to the capitol tomorrow, to meet with congressional leaders. >> warner: online, we have a primer explaining how the fiscal cliff might affect you. still, to come on the "newshour": debating palestinian status at the u.n.; reading the fine print; tackling immigration reform and re-purposing digital data gathered during the campaign. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: wall street tracked the ups and downs of the fiscal cliff drama in washington today. at one point, the dow jones industrial average was off more than 100 points. but stocks made up the ground after the president's talk of a deal by christmas. the dow ended with a gain of nearly 107 points to close at 12,985. the nasdaq rose 24 points to close well over 2,991. a moderate republican senator susan collins of maine voiced new concerns today about u.n. ambassador susan rice. it stemmed from rice's initial account, on

the party of angry old white men. 71% of hispanic voters chose president obama. so did 93% of african-americans and 55% of female voters. so you would think that republicans would finally reach out to women and minorities, but you would be wrong. that brings us to the number of the day zero. that's the number of women or people of color who will chair a committee in the house of representatives next year. some how out of 19 chairmanships every single one had to go to some old or middle aged white guy. look at some of the new committee leaders. jeb hensarling on financial services, ed royce on foreign affairs. mike mccaul on homeland security. and lamar smith who still doesn't thing climate change is caused by human behavior, and now he's in charge of, wow the science committee. you could find more divererererererererererererererererererererererererererererer >> eliot: how do you convention millions of americans to impose a tax increase that will have no impact on them or their friends. some how the g.o.p. has managed to do it president obama's proposed tax increase on the wealthiest 2

president obama at the white house and after three weeks of dealing with the benghazi scandal and the fiscal cliff, obama is prepared to offer romney a position in the administration, president of the united states. [ laughter ] >> you've been warned, harry reid! take away mitch mcconnell's filibuster and he will strike back! by obstructing everything you do! or let him keep the filibuster so he can obstruct everything you do! [ gunfire ] >> still to come, an easy recipe perfect for entertaining. >> also the reason why the latest royal visit was extra special. for the douche -- duke and duchess of cambridge. >> are you crying? >> because the cooker -- because the workers won't make my muffins anymore. >> what religion is involved with christmas? what religion? >> christianity. >> that's not a religion. that's a philosophy. >> okay. don't tell me what i think. when i said i didn't have a problem, i don't have a problem. got it? >> give the people their billions. let's move on. >> i feel sorry for those people who won because now they're part of the 1%. they will be demonized. >> wh

president obama and mitt romney's lunch at the white house. now let's take a look at "the daily show" for exclusive unseen footage of yesterday's private event. >> we do have some footage of governor romney arriving to the white house. i believe that's him there. then he's getting out. and then the lion. the campaign is over, so he doesn't have to pretend anymore. he can finally wear that serengeti lion sash he hadn't been wearing. by the way, obama couldn't have met the guy in a restaurant? he had to make him come to the white house? that's some cold brew. hey, romney, what's up, man? hey, isn't it funny? you almost lived here. this was almost your place. just 3 million votes. you know what i mean? oh, you worked so hard for seven years and you were just about to go in and then sorry [ bleep ]. >> that's pretty good. >> yeah. >> it's a strong cooler. >> romney, king joffrey joffer. we're moving on. we have vice president joe biden going to the grand opening of a washington, d.c., costco store yesterday. >> what? >> yes. let me tell you, he did not -- >> -- just walking through this

problems for the obama administration. joining me here in the studio is mark landher white house correspondent for "the new york times." margaret carlson for the bloomberg view and national correspondent chris. thank you very much for being with us. we could use officer deprimo to solve some of the budget problems, christmas spirit and the powerball couple from missouri, amazing couple who one was laid off, the other just finally got a job and now they've got more than $200 million. >> yeah. >> before taxes. >> the cheerful part of the news. >> emphasize that. >> let's move to the other part. >> margaret, for the uncheerful part of the news. >> thank you. >> loot is shadow boxing, but there is an undercurrent of both sides playing chicken and the markets are sitting there and at any moment could decide hey, this deal is not going to get done and give us a lump of coal. >> when you get the drop in the dow jones average it will focus attention the way the fiscal cliff is not focusing attention. the report that mitch mcconnell laughed yesterday when timothy geithner presented the wh

them, president obama and mitt romney had lunch together tonight at the white house. cameras got a glimpse at mitt romney. the lunch was private. it lasted over an hour and the white house said the president did not have an agenda here. the president prompted to meet with mitt romney to discuss how they could work together. and the menu, the white house said white turkey chilly and southwestern grilled chicken salad. >>> fewer americans filed unemployment claims last week. 393,000 people filed for jobless claims. it was the second straight decline. the u.s. labor market has been showing signs of improvement after more hiring and fewer job cuts. >>> on wall street today, the dow is up 36 to 13,021. the nasdaq is up 20 at 3,012. the s&p is up 6 at 1,415. >>> we have just learned that one of last night's powerball winners is expected to come forward tomorrow. the jackpot was $588 million. that is the highest ever for powerball. officials say one ticket was sold in arizona, another in missouri. the winners could each take $192 million before taxes. >>> coming up, california missed out

following barack obama's election. a group of texans filed a petition on a white house website. they wanted texas to secede from the not so united states of america. the movement spread further encompassing each of the 50 states in the union. it's a ridiculous exercise that will go nowhere. there are some real impulses across the atlantic. europe might soon have a new independent state. look at catalonia. a region in northeast spain that includes barcelona. last sunday, they held parliamentary elections. a majority of the winners campaigned on a platform of secession. the vote follows an unprecedented demonstration in september when about one million catalons marched the streets demanding statehood. to put it in perspective, the entire population is only about 7.5 million. the next step could be a public referendum on breaking away. consider scotland which has already reached that point. in october british prime minister david cameron agreed to a deal allowing scotts to vote in 2014 as to whether they want to secede. then there's the strange case of belgium. the people speech dutch in the n

>>> and white house lunch, president obama d mitt romney face to face for the first time since the campaign, tonight, how it went and what happened. >>> and tonight, the powerball winners, what we know, and who they are, and the secret code that could be in the numbers. nightly news begins now. >>> good evening, at a time when so many people are still suffering, right now tonight more than one month after a monster storm hit a giant population center, today we learned some facts about how this earth is changing and how fast. for starters, polar ice sheets in greenland are melting at five times the pace, than just a few years ago. new research shows that antarctica is melting. while it takes a lot of ice to melt the ocean levels they say that is in fact what is happening. and they believe just an incremental rise in the ocean levels made the damage worse when hurricane sandy hit the east coast and took so much away from us. the big question is the future, of course, and a new kind of normal for all of those living along the water. it is where we begin tonight, our chief environmenta

negotiations on the hill. your point, which is a good one, is i think the white house feels very confident of their negotiating hand. republicans on the hill are angry about it. i don't think that they're at a point where they feel like they have to give on what president obama said he won this election on, which is having wealthier americans pay higher tax rates. they want to talk about entitlements and this and that, but the tax rates on the rich are more about just this policy debate. there's sort of this philosophical thing of i won the election, and obama -- i don't see any scenario by which he's going to back down. >> one of the things he did which i found interesting, which seems an unnecessary poke in the eye was to say, you know what, as part of this deal i think we should not have congress anymore have to approve raising the debt limit. that was certainly -- >> well, when you go into a negotiation you don't come in with your compromise to start. you kind of have to start at 10 to get -- and it never worked for him before. but the offer from mitch mcconnell, the minority

for president obama. this is the latest in a long line of efforts on the part of the obama white house to organize americans, to bring a grassroots campaign style efforts to bear on a policy debate. this not the first time the obama administration has done this. in fact, this isn't even a new thing for president's broadly speaking. president obama did not invent this strategy of trying to get his way on policy. remember george w. bush after he was reelected. george w. bush took off an a tour of the country at the start of his second term. what president bush was barn storming the country with to call americans to action about was his idea we should privatize social security. >> i like going around the country. i am going to keep telling people we've got a problem until it sinks in. >> it did not sink in and we did not turn social security over to wall street the way president bush suggested. that is less a caution for the current president, that president's broadly speaking shouldn't try to involve their public in their policy causes. it seems less a caution for president's broadly spe

lot of people in washington give to the obama white house it is too insular and he doesn't pull the kinds of expertise he needs into this white house. there's an opportunity in this second term for him to shake things up a little bit. you know, maybe to bring in new players, new faces who have been there from the clinton white house, and kind of help the dynamic and help the governing because a lot of people on capitol hill even democrats will tell you, he's not good at governing and building coalitions. maybe if he brought some folks in who knew how to do that there would be more give and take on the fiscal cliff issue, on the tax reform and entitlement reforms that we get next year, and there is a sense he really could use a bit of some fresh blood to make things a little easier going forward. >> chris, susan, and ari, thank you very much for all joining us. and the jobs report, more jobs are added in november than was predicted. what does it all mean for the economy? we'll have our own reality check next. first, new jersey governor chris christie stops by "the daily show" to chat

white house would get serious, as well. >> welcome to the journal editorial report. i'm paul. not exactly a meeting of the minds this week between president obama and house speaker john boehner on just where talks to end the fiscal showdown stand. the president, for his part, took his case to the public and repeated his call for a tax hike on upper income americans but made little mention of cuts to entitlement spending. something the speaker said must be part of any final deal. joining the panel this week, wall street journal columnist and deputy editor dan, and ms. o'grady and washington columnist kim stossel. you are stuck in washington having to talk to all the sources. and you have been working them this week, i know. is the mood as sour as it sounds? >> it is by the end of this week and here's why. republicans came out right after the election and said to the president, you want revenue, here. you want revenue on the wealthy? we will give it to you. let's do this via limbing tax deductions for the wealthy. the president instead of taking that, running it, ceiling a deal, has

get that. the list does go on. he said today in articulating the idea that going with the obama plan was an interesting tactic. you must let the congressman a great deal because, as you know, the white house has seized upon that. they're going to continue the assault. the fact of the matter is, we are now moving ahead. in this discussion if you don't acknowledge that the speaker said revenue, i eat tax hikes are on the table, and i don't care whether you call them loopholes, tax expenditures, you name it. it means, as you know better than nearly anyone, higher taxes . >> okay. two things. one, i was asked today in an interview, politico, what about kohl's proposal? it was introduced to me for the first time. i said to my it sounds like an interesting tactic. awesome the normally want a tax increase. on masterwork. evidently later today the speaker made it very clear that there will be no more freelancing on this. and so i think we will see that again. i was not endorsing it. what do you think of something about which you don't know anything, that's interesting. so, no, that is not --

5@5:30. >>> speaking of eaten up it was a power lunch yesterday at washington. president obama and mitt romney coming face to face for the first time since their last presidential debate. that meeting taking place at the white house. it appears that they talked about the country's leadership. they are still not making much progress in the fiscal cliff. >> doug is live from washington. >> either way they stave off the fiscal cliff. spending cuts at the end of the fiscal year. it has really shocked republicans this year on capitol hill. they say it calls for, for one thing, $1.6 trillion in new tax hikes over a decade. it is also stimulus spending and the spending cuts. both sides are necessary to reduce the deficit. those the president would largely tackle later perhaps next year. >> first despite the claims that the president supports a balanced approach, the democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts. no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the white house and the house over the last two weeks. listen, this is not a game. jobs are on the line. th

romney lunches at the white house as he and president obama sit down for the first time after the election. we'll kick this around with a "morning joe" crew. whether we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler where there is more evidence you can see just about anything in new york city. i'm proof. in this case, it's a pony and a streets. >> natalie wood was found dead today. los angeles county officials can only confirm the 43-year-old miss wood drowned by nothing further on the circumstances. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later. trust duracell to power their donated toys? duralock power preserve. it locks in powe

obama stumping campaign style to prevent fast approaching spending cuts and expiring tax breaks and a potential economic disaster a month ago and toured a toy factory in pennsylvania, the company behind lincoln logs. the white house says the trip highlights the response extending the bush era tax cuts for everyone but now for any amount of money you make over $250,000. so everyone get as tax break but not anything over $250,000. that is the company's core customers and flames republicans for holding up the progress. republicans point the finger at the president. >> it is not acceptable to me or to you, i don't think, for a handful of the republicans in congress to hold middle-class tax cuts hostage. >> the white house took three weeks to respond with any kind of a proposal. to my disappointment, it wasn't a serious one. >>shepard: speaker boehner referred to meetings with the treasury secretary geithner. republicans called plan he layed out a step backwards, so much that top senate republican were mcconnell burst into laugh laughing western he heard it. people on the left, even, a l

. white flavored? a replica of the obama's dog complete with little christmas lights in his mouth. and check out this elaborate tree full of colors, 90,000 visitors will pass through the white house this holiday season. if you read only one thing this morning, if you saw your dreams dissolve, the porsche 911, the villa in the south of france gone simply because you didn't hit the lottery, take heart. "time" magazine reports on ten big lottery winners for whom winning may have been the worst thing that ever happened to them. you will not believe piece stories. it's on our facebook page. ital wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper k

, "obama offers plan for cliff, not compromise." "the new york times." "gop balks at white house plan on fiscal crisis." and "the wall street journal," obama's cliff offer spurned. i want to bring in joanne reed and molly ball, political reporter for "the atlantic." good to see both of you. good morning. >> good to be here. >> mitch mcconnell, we are told, literally laughed at the white house's offer. and if you listen to speaker boehner, it's not going very well. take a listen. >> i'm disappointed in where we are and disappointed in what's happened over the last couple of weeks. but going over the fiscal cliff is serious business. and i'm here seriously trying to resolve it. and i would hope the white house would get serious as well. >> and the speaker tweeted, "how serious is the white house about avoiding the fiscal cliff?" reports suggest, in some cases, not so serious. and also, joanne, what is the strategy here, and is there a risk like looking like you're not really negotiating? >> well, you know, i think what's interesting is that there's the posture that everyone is taking in pu

obama last year. boehner's office wouldn't write the number 800 billion in its initial offer to the white house because they didn't want other house republicans to see that. the fact that that figure is on the table and boehner is taking to the air waives to say, you know who's going to get soaked here? the rich. is a shocking reversal of where the republican party was i agree ago. >> look at this. these are some smart conservatives. byron york in "the weekly standard," and john padora, bill kristol are all saying the republicans have to do something. they're playing a losing hand. fedoris writes, every way you look at it, the gop is trapped. republican politicians will cave and give the president most of what he wants. the only real question is, when? the answer is, probably at the worst possible time when they've done even more damage to the party's brand. governor, if you were a republican today, would you sitting down say, you know we have to eat this, deal with this top 2%, we can't be seen as hanging out for the rich guys, rich women of this country and we don't want to be doi

message. not to the white house. he and president obama are battling the air war right now. this is all about rejoiner to what i call the president's tour of 2012. the president making an announcement at business round table, meeting with ceos who voted for romney, showing he's bipartisan. john boehner now making the fairness argument? it's a shocking turn of events but a testament to the fact that the republicans know optics are not in their favor. >> here's where it looks like it's heading. republicans float i think a face-saver in the new york times. quote, if no deal can be struck to avert the bush era tax cuts and onset of deep across the board spending cuts gop leadership could foresee taking up and passing legislation this month to extend the tax cuts for the middle class and then resume the bitter fight over spending and taxes as the nation approaches the next hard deadline and statutory barring. that's the debt ceiling coming up later this year, early part of next year. here's the question right now, governor. it seems that's a face saver because they say taxes deferred or

options presented to them reclearly with a return of president obama to the white house, or initiating mitt romney presidency, chose a return of president obama to the white house and therefore gave him a very clear mandate to hold the line on the question of entitlements there when it comes to talking about entitlements, or earned benefits as progressives like to refer to it, what is the way that the president and those on the left can look and also appear to the right to be willing to compromise? what can they put on the table, if anything? >> well, i just don't think that any of us think that it is a reasonable idea to over the course of the next week and a half, over the course of the holiday season, for the president and this congress, which is a lame duck congress, to engage in major entitlement reforms of programs that have helped to lift millions of americans out of poverty and that have been the basis of our safety net for the past 30 years. that's an unreasonable way to make policy in this country. i think what the president can do is talk about differences in terms of where

serious business and i'm here seriously trying to resolve it and i would hope the white house would get serious as well. >> welcome tt colonel, editorial report, i'm paul gigot, not a meeting of the minds between president obama and house speaker john boehner where talks to end the fiscal showdown ends. the president for his park took his place for the public and called for america and little cuts to entitlement spending something the speaker says must be part of any final deal. wall street journal columnist and dan henninger, and mary an anna-- anastasia o'grady and kim strassel. you've been talking it it sources and is the mood as hour as it sounds. >> it is by the end of this week and here is why, the republicans came out right after the election and said to the president, you want revenue here. you want revenue on the wealthy, we'll give it to you, limiting tax deductions for the wealthy. the president instead of taking that and running with tceiling a deal has been campaigning for tax hikes and to cap it off sent treasury secretary tim geithner to congress with this outrageous

white house on president obama and mitt romney's lunch meeting in the private residence. >>> we are following developing news. former president george h.w. bush has been hospitalized. we'll update you on his condition. >>> plus, we are just now an hour away from an historic u.n. vote on the palestinian's bid for statehood. israel's vice prime minister joins me live. now we need a little bit more... [ male announcer ] at humana, we understand the value of quality time and personal attention. which is why we are proud to partner with health care professionals who understand the difference that quality time with our members can make... that's a very nice cake! ohh! [ giggles ] [ male announcer ] humana thanks the physicians, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists and other health professionals who helped us achieve the highest average star rating among national medicare companies... and become the first and only national medicare advantage company to achieve a 5-star rating for a medicare plan... your efforts result in the quality of care and service we're able to provide... which means better

very special party of two having lunch next hour at the white house. president obama, as promised, in his victory speech 23 days ago, is hosting mitt romney, who has made no secret that he really thought that it would be the other way around. and our dan lothian is counting down the minutes, standing by at the white house, even though, dan, you are not invited to the luncheon, nor am i or anyone else at the camera, a mic or even a pen. why is it so private? >> reporter: that's right. oftentimes, the president will have meetings here at the white house, lunches or official meetings, where the president is not invited in. our cameras are not allowed in. sometimes our cameras are allowed in but no editorial presence. this one of those where no cameras allowed in, we're hopeful the white house will take a pick pur and release it to us, but at this point no plans for us to sort of get a peek inside that room and listen in on that conversation. although we hope that there will be some kind of a readout to give us some indication as to what the two politicians discussed. >> you know, dan, of

and avoid those tax increases? we're getting our first look tonight at president obama's proposal and the republican reaction. major garrett is at the white house for us tonight. major. >> reporter: scott, the first hard numbers from the white house to resolve the fiscal cliff crisis landed with a thud on capitol hill. congressional republicans called it an insulting joke. here's the big picture-- $4 trillion of deficit reduction over the next 10 years. it includes $1.6 trillion in higher taxes on households make manage more than $250,000. there's also $400 billion in cuts to entitlement programs, like medicaid and medicare, as well as others. there is also fresh new aending. $50 billion next year in stimulus spending, all for infrastructure. the white house calls this an opening bid. house republicans call it a rehash of old ideas and also object to the idea of a white house asking a permanent legislative remedy to raising the debt ceiling, all of it, the republicans say rather, is unacceptable. now much of this was conveyed in a 28-minute phone conversation yesterday between preside

with the ultimate power lunch at the white house. president obama and mitt romney face-to-face for the first time since the election and talk about a picture's worth 1,000 words. try a million for this one. only one word really you need which is awkward. just after this lunch took place, the president offered a tough fiscal cliff proposal to congress, one that aides to john boehner say -- wait for it -- he's already rejected. of course he has. joining me to talk about all things politics, "new york times" columnist frank bruni and ross douthat. how many seconds was it, do you think, gentlemen, let me start with you, frank, before john boehner rejected out of hand president obama's attempt to try and do a fiscal cliff deal? >> with $1.6 trillion in new taxes, i think probably half a second. >> when you see the apparent attempt at a bipartisan lunch going on today between obama and romney, it was all very sweet and everything, the reality is the picture was about as uncomfortable as the relationship is between the two sides, and again, frank, how do we get to a better place in washin